Slaine Troyard
Count Slaine Saazbaum Troyard, born Slaine Troyard, commonly referred to as Count Troyard, and occasionally Lord Troyard, was born on Earth as the son of a scientist, who, in 2009, joins his father in visiting the Mars-based Vers Empire. In the final re-entry to Mars, Slaine's space capsule crashes into a water-filled structure- possibly some sort of cistern given the rarity of water on Mars- associated with the (presumed) Vers Imperial palace. The capsule crashes through the cistern, into the (waterless) floor below, but the capsule is flooded. Slaine manages to open the capsule, but the slips into unconsciousness before it can fully drain. Fortunately, Slaine is rescued by Vers princess Asseylum Vers Allusia, who gave him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, saving his life. Slaine subsequently develops a close friendship with the princess, and possibly a romantic interest in her. Slaine considers himself deeply indebted to Asseylum, and presumably joined the Versian military in an effort to protect her. In spite of his young age, Slaine learns to expertly pilot a Versian transport aircraft or "Sky Carrier". Battle vs Oleg Lopatin (SPARTAN 119) NOTE: This is an alternate universe in terms of both series canon Surface of Minerva, 1984 It had been two days since the American light aircraft, the Damselfly had dropped that improvised incendiary bomb that killed Fralk, and, as far as the Americans believed, KGB agent Oleg Lopatin. But Lopatin was not dead. Instead, he had been thrown away from the center of the fireball in the impact of the bomb, and survived with only superficial burns. Amazingly, his AK-74 has also survived the impact, appearing to have been thrown away from the Minervan Fralk's now-charred carcass as the bomb exploded. His retrieving the AK-74, however, was about the only thing that had gone well for Oleg since he landed on this planet. He had escaped the battlefield, but was now being chased by an army of Reatur's feudal levies. Oleg outgunned them, but there were more of them than he had ammunition, and he could not get back across the flooded Ervis Gorge to his comrades. Now, Oleg was cornered into a cave. He could only hope that it exited somewhere... but about 100 meters down the cave, Oleg found something unlike anything he had ever seen before. It looked like a metal ring as wide as the cave was tall. To one side were a number of machines that appeared to be connected to the ring. But it was the middle of the ring that was most mysterious. It seemed to shimmer like the surface of water, but an image was clearly visible in it, but it was not the reflection of the cave. Instead, the image showed a vast desert of red-tinged rocks and dust. Overcome by curiousity, Oleg Lopatin reached out the touch the image in the ring. His hand seemed to go through, and became visible in the image. On the hand, he could feel cool, dry air. Perhaps against his better judgement, Oleg moved his arm through the mysterious portal, before climbing through entirely, finding himself in the mysterious desert. One thing was clear, he was not on Minerva anymore... Vers Imperial Capital, April 2013, two months since Oleg's arrival In the last two months since he arrived on mysterious planet known as "Mars", Oleg Lopatin has been in for some serious culture shock. The locals had never heard of Minerva, but rather, claimed that this was the fourth planet from the sun, "Mars". They also claimed it was the year 2013. To Oleg's fury, they told him the Soviet Union had fallen in 1991, and to make matters worse, this human colony on Mars was a feudalistic absolute monarchy. Apparently, in 1972, the Americans has discovered a mysterious portal to Mars on the Moon, and found an ancient alien structure there. Apparently, some scientist who now went by Rayregalia Vers Rayvers had somehow gained absolute control of the alien tech and used to subjugate the colonists and crown himself emperor. Rayvers had stepped down in favor of his son, Gilzeria, but he died in a war with the "United Earth" in 1999. Now, Rayvers was in control again, the empire was in poverty even more than before from the war, and the nobility held what little wealth there was on the desert planet- efforts to terraform the planet years before had been made, but while there was now an atmosphere with oxygen, water and other resources were scarce. As Oleg heard more of this alien technology, this "Aldnoah" as they called it, the more it sounded like if he could kill Rayregalia and his bloodline, he could simply touch a piece of Aldnoah technology and become its new master. The Vers Empire military consisted almost entirely infantry with little experience, except for the "Kataphrakts", Aldnoah-powered war machines that could be used only by the nobles, who spent most of their time in palaces, save for the "Orbital Knights", who were all stationed in Earth orbit, far from the Versian capital. The Vers Empire was ripe for revolution... Vers Imperial Capital, Vers Empire, Mars, September 2013, five months since Oleg's arrival "Workers of Vers! For decades, the Emperor and the nobility have lied to you! It is not the fault of the United Earth Government that you have nothing! While you're families struggle to survive, the nobles sit in their palaces, hiding behind the delusional belief that Aldnoah makes them gods! But soon, this facade will come crashing down! Like the Russian czar before him, Emperor Rayvers will face the People's justice for his crimes!" As Oleg Lopatin finished speaking, the basement of the abandoned factory that was the headquarters of the Versian People's Army was filled with applause and shouting. The assembled revolutionaries raised their AK-clones- made in an underground shop, into the air. In mere days, cells of revolutionaries around the city would storm the palaces of the nobles and the bases of the inexperienced Vers infantry, overwhelm their forces, and then surround and storm the imperial palace itself. Vers Imperial palace, October 2013 "Slaine, take Asseylum and go, I will face them", Emperor Rayregalia Vers Rayvers said, "Take the escape tunnel, hurry!" The situation was looking bleak, in a matter of months, a communist uprising known as the Versian People's Army had rose from the woodwork, assassinated most of the nobles on Mars and overwhelmed the bases of the army. The Aldnoah-powered Kataphrakts, the pride of his empire burned, destroyed without leaving their hangars. Now, the VPA stood at the gates of his palace. Any moment now, they would overwhelm the last of the guards and break in. "Grandfather...", Princess Asseylum Vers Allusia said through tearful eyes. "Go!", the Emperor ordered as Slaine Troyard led the sobbing princess out of her grandfather's bedroom where the aging emperor now lay- the "emperor in the throne room was a hologram. "Goodbye.... I'll never forget you...", The princess said as she took the last look she would ever take at her grandfather. A few minutes after Asseylum and Slaine fled the room, the door burst to the room burst open. Emperor Rayregalia Vers Rayvers looked into the eyes of Oleg Lopatin, armed with his AK-74, and several other VPA soldiers, armed with AK-clones or captured Vers army assault rifles. As he stared down the barrels of the weapons, he looked like a man prepared to die. "Emperor Rayregalia Vers Rayvers!", Oleg said coldly, "You are hereby sentenced to death for your crimes against the people of Mars. Do you have any last words?" "Only that everything I did, I did to bring life to Mars", Rayvers said. As the emperor finished his last word, Oleg's AK blazed, along with the other rifles of the VLA firing squad. As the bullets struck his chest, Rayregalia slumped over in his bed, and breathed his last. "You men", Oleg ordered, "regroup with your unit and blockade the palace, I'll deal with the survivors... personally". "At once, comrade", the VLA soldiers said in unison, and exited the palace, leaving Oleg to enter the hallway behind the throne, the same one that Slaine and Asseylum entered mere minutes earlier. Courtyard, Vers Imperial Palace, October, 2013 Oleg Lopatin burst into the courtyard of the Vers Imperial palace. On the other side of the courtyard garden, he spotted two figures with blonde hair, one male and one female. It had to be his target- Asseylum Vers Allusia, along wiht one other. Oleg took aim with his AK-74 and fire a three-round burst. The first two bullets completely missed, but the third only grazed Slaine. Asseylum let out a gasp of horror as she saw the blood spray from the wound. "Relax, It barely hit me", Slaine said simply, before raising his assault rifle, "Go for the door, I'll cover you. Slaine fired a longer burst, about eight rounds, which caused Oleg to dive behind a fountain. Slaine then walked backwards towards the door, in which Asseylum barely peeked around the corner. Slaine then fired two more three-round bursts, forcing Oleg to stay in cover. Oleg tried to force his foe into cover by blind-firing a burst of about six rounds, however, the shots, predictibly, missed by a wide margin, blowing out a window on the second floor of the palace. Slaine fired one more long burst, before closing the door and running down the hallway and turning left at a fork in the corridor. As he did, his lightly wounded shoulder brushed against the wall, leaving a smear of blood. It was about 30 seconds after the firing had stopped that Oleg had fired another blind burst and jumped over the stone wall of the fountain and cautiously advanced from cover to cover across the courtyard. Once he entered the corridor, however, it was clear the the princess and that kid were gone. "That damn kid", Oleg thought, "I'll kill him, he forfeited his life the moment he stood in the way of the revolution!". Oleg observed his surrounds carefully, noticing the depressions in the soft carpet from soft footfalls only moments before. Around the corner, he saw a smear of blood turning to the left. Vers Imperial Palace Library, about 2 minutes later Slaine Troyard pushed away a bookshelf that slid along a rail, one of several in the Vers Palace Library, the largest private collection of books on Mars, and a place Slaine had spent many hours with the princess, telling of the wonders of Earth, the oceans, the animals, and the blue skies. "Those days were all gone...", Slaine internally mused briefly, before returning to reality and entering the secret passage behind the bookshelf. "Come on", Slaine said as he reached out his hand, "We're nearly there". The princess too his hand, and Slaine led her into the secret tunnel, stopping only to close the bookcase behind him. About 100 meters ahead was the spaceship Selene, their escape. Hangar, Three minutes later Slaine Troyard sat at the controls of the spaceship Selene, the Versian Royal Transport, capable of interplanetary travel. The princess had booted up the Aldnoah drive using her activation factor, while Slaine took command. The hidden underground bay doors were open, and the ship hovered up, like a Harrier jump jet, out of one of the courtyards. On a second floor balcony overlooking the courtyard, however... Oleg Lopatin has ran outside when he heard the hanger doors open in the courtyard. When he reached the balcony, he couldn't believe his eyes- a spacecraft about twice the size of a large cargo plane was hovering, apparently using a VTOL system of some kind, out of a hidden bay door in the courtyard. Oleg, however, had one final ace up his sleeve: A captured Versian shoulder mounted missile launcher. Oleg looked through the scope, seeing a red circle around the spacecraft and hearing a lock tone. This this was even easier to use than the Russian Strela-3. Oleg pulled the trigger, sending a guided missile flying with a thunderous roar. The missile, however, never hit its mark. A 20mm Gatling gun on the side of the Selene retracted from its hidden turret, and fired, blowing the missile out of the air. At the cockpit, Slaine Troyard then flipped a switch on the instrument panel of the ship: the point defense guns were now in "manual" mode. Slaine placed the crosshair over his would-be attacker and squeeze the trigger. A burst of about ten 20mm rounds impacted, reducing Oleg Lopatin to a bloody pulp before he could ever realize what hit him. Slaine then pulled the throttle forward and flew up, away from the burning city. Ten minutes later, Vers Transport Selene, leaving Martian orbit Princess Asseylum Vers Allusia walked over to Slaine, now seated in the cockpit, letting the computer handle to Hohlmann Transfer to Earth. "Slaine... you saved me... there's know way I can ever repay you", the princess replied. "There is no need, Your Highness, your gratitude is more than enough. And besides, you saved my life when I first landed on Mars, remember? I suppose this means we're even.", Slaine replied. "Asseylum", the princess replied, "Call me Asseylum, I... I can hardly be called a princess when... when..." Asseylum tried to continue, but she her words were stifled by tears. Slaine reached over and put a comforting arm around her. For several seconds, the looked into each other's eyes. "I know it must be hard, but we'll make it through this, together. And I promise you, the people who killed your father will pay for what they did", Slaine replied. "And what about Eddelrittuo, what about her... and all the others", the princess asked. "She'll be okay, She's a bright girl. And when the time comes, we'll be back for her". Slain "You really think we can do all this?", Asseylum asked. "Of course we can, I'm sure we can get the United Earth behind us, we'll install a democratic regime- you never cared for power anyway. And... no matter what happens, as long as we have each other, we'll find a way." For the next few seconds, the two of them looked into each other's eyes, before they slowly moved closer. Slaine had half expected it, but at the same time, he couldn't help but be surprise when he felt the princesses lips press against his own. Two days later, Vers City, the surface of Mars What little remained of Oleg Lopatin had been buried in a mausoleum of red stone, with a hammer and sickle carved on top. On edifice itself read the world "Oleg Lopatin, Martyr of the Revolution" in both English and Russian. Now, the Versian People's Army was led by a colonist of Russian ancestry, one Yuri Chernenko. At this moment, Yuri stood in the core room of a Versian "Landing Castle", a large space craft, with a syringe of the blood of the late emperor Rayregalia Vers Rayvers in hand. One of the Versian counts who was taken alive, Count Cruhteo, told them that he Aldnoah activation factors could be transferred by bodily fluids, including blood and saliva. Apparently Cruhteo had a penchant for torture, but, ironically, collapsed quickly under torture himself. "You really think this will work, comrade?" a second high-ranking member of the VPA asked. "Only one way to find out", Chernenko replied, "And if he was lying, I'll see to Cruhteo personally". At that, Chernenko slammed the syringe into his leg, transfusing the late emperor's blood into his own. At once, he felt a tingling feeling in his hand. As he reached out to touch the yellow orb that was the Landing Castle's Aldnoah drive, it glowed bright yellow. "In the name of the people of the Vers Socialist Republic, I command you, activate!", Chernenko said. Admittedly, he was himself surprised that, at once, the whole ship immediately came to life, as attested by lights and holo panels flashing to life for the first time since the death of the ship's commanding nobleman. Soon, this ship would be joined by an army of specially designed Aldnoah-powered tanks, walkers (or Kataphrakts as the Versians called them), aircraft, and spacecraft, armed with new weapons such as ultra-long range missiles, laser weapons, and even force fields that disintegrated projectiles on impact. Then, he would unite the Earth under the banner of the Red Star... Little did he know, however, that the escaped princess Asseylum Vers Allusia, had revealed the same secret to the United Forces of Earth, who were busily refitting their KG-7 Kataphrakts, main battle tanks, F-22 Raptors, and other war machines with Aldnoah technology a well... WINNER: Slaine Troyard Experts' Opinion Slaine won this battle because of the objective-based nature of the match, as well as his superior knowledge of the terrain and more modern weapons. This, along with special items like his ally, Princess Asseylum's holo-disguise. Finally, his sheer motivation to protect those he cared about carried the day. To see the original battle, weapons, and votes, click here. 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